Anna Maria Bell – Business Owner/Manager (1827 – 1910); Lawrence
By Campbell Leitch, Watkins Museum of History, 2026
In Brief:
After Anna Bell’s husband was killed during Quantrill’s Raid in 1863, the raiders attempted to burn down their house with Anna and her six children inside. She stopped the fire, saving the house and her family, but her challenges didn’t end there. Widows had difficulty supporting themselves and their families in this time. They used various strategies to survive such as farming, begging, borrowing, sewing or baking, teaching, or other means.
Anna Bell used her home as a boarding house. She and her children lived in the cellar and rented out the upstairs rooms to boarders. She advertised a “Home Restaurant,” cooking for lodgers to make extra cash. Though she later remarried, she kept the boarding house open throughout the 1880s. Her story is typical of many raid widows who created opportunities for themselves in a society that barred their independent participation.
More Information:
After Anna Bell’s husband was killed during Quantrill’s raid, the raiders attempted to burn down their house with Anna and her six children inside. She stopped the fire, saving the house and her family, but her challenges didn’t end there. It was difficult for widows to support themselves and their families at a time when property and power was typically in men’s hands. Widows took on various strategies to survive in a man’s world, without a husband. Some ran farms, begged and borrowed, sewed or baked, became nuns or teachers, or found another career to survive.
Annie Bell used her house—which still stands on Ohio Street in Lawrence—to avoid the spiral towards poverty that many widows experienced. She and her children frequently lived in the cellar, renting out the upstairs rooms to boarders. She advertised a “Home Restaurant,” cooking for lodgers to make extra cash. Though she later remarried, she kept the boardinghouse open through the 1880s. Her story is that of many raid widows who created opportunities for themselves in a society that barred their independent participation.
Image: Watkins Museum of History
